This invention relates to electrical plugs and particularly to apparatus for retaining such plugs in their mounted position in electrical receptacles.
In many, if not most cases, electrically operated equipment including lights, radios, televisions, kitchen appliances and the like, are connected to an electrical distribution system by inserting a male plug on the free distal end of a cord attached to the equipment into a wall or floor mounted female receptacle in such a way that the plug can be removed merely by pulling on it. This has resulted in many accidents, some of a serious nature, particularly when young children have access to the plugs. The plugs are in effect an attractive nuisance with children who tend to play with them, prodding them with their fingers and other small objects in such a way that they can make contact with a live electrical circuit by touching the prongs of the plug while it is still in electrical connection with the receptacle.
Over the years attempts have been made to provide devices to lock such plugs in their respective receptacles; however, none has been widely accepted in the market place due to various reasons such as the inconvenience involved in using certain devices which were too complicated for the average consumer, or they involved using supplemental tools such as screw drivers with which the consumer did not wish to bother, or they were too expensive to be affordable to the average consumer or they were too unattractive to appeal to consumers.